


How I Should Forget to Think

by iamajdandagreaser



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Axel Walker needs a hug, Background Character Death, Cuddling, Grief/Mourning, How Do I Tag, M/M, Protective Barry Allen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 09:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12578460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamajdandagreaser/pseuds/iamajdandagreaser
Summary: Barry knows what the look on Axel's face means. He's seen it before in the mirror.





	How I Should Forget to Think

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CatKidJen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatKidJen/gifts).



It's 11:37 pm on a Wednesday when Barry hears the knocking. He's just getting ready to fall into bed completely exhausted, and the intrusion could not come at a worse time.

Grumbling to himself, Barry drags himself to the door, and jerks it open, only to have the reprimand he had been preparing to deliver die on his lips.

For it's Axel Walker, Trickster Jr., Barry's kind of boyfriend, on the doorstep, and Barry immediately knows what has happened. He's seen the look that Axel's wearing many times before, on his own face.

It's the look one wears when the person they love the most in the world has been cruelly torn away from them and they don't know where to go or what to do.

Barry reaches out, pulls Axel inside. The other man allows Barry to gently manhandle him over to the sofa. Barry doesn't know exactly how, but he knows that somehow, James Jesse is dead. Tomorrow, the city will rejoice, but for tonight, Barry will allow himself to mourn alongside Axel.

They sit there in silence, Barry's arms wrapped tightly around Axel, for the better part of an hour before the tears start to come. At first, it's a slow trickle, but before long, Axel is sobbing his heart out and Barry is trying to hold him together through it.

When Axel finally calms down, they don't say anything. There's nothing to say. Instead, Barry allows Axel to curl up beside him, and use his lap for a pillow. He strokes Axel's hair until he falls asleep, and Barry doesn't care that he won't really get any rest tonight. He knows the feeling- this is what Joe did for him when he lost his parents. 

The city sleeps on, and dawn finally begins to creep into the windows. Barry allows Axel to sleep as long as he can. It is a cold, cruel world he'll have to face once he wakes, and Barry tries to protect him from that for as long as he can, letting the blackness of sleep push back the inevitable waking as long as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, CatKidJen has forced me to write something angsty and sad to feed her love of tormenting characters. Yes, I know it's short and terrible, but oh well. The title is taken from Romeo and Juliet.


End file.
